Metal pipe clips have already been in production for a number of decades as a mass-produced product and are used for attaching pipes to walls, ceilings or other supports. An example of a pipe clip of this nature is shown in EP 0 387 966. As is known, there are pipe clips in which the clip body comprises two halves which can be joined together and pipe clips in which the clip body is formed by a single part and can be bent in order to place the pipe in the pipe clip and then bent back in order to surround the pipe. The present invention relates, inter alia, to both types of pipe clips.
The male fastening element between the pipe clip, on the one hand, and wall, ceiling or similar support, on the other hand, is usually a threaded rod or a threaded bolt with a metric screw thread or a special threaded bolt with a wood screw thread at one end and a metric screw thread at the other end. The screw thread diameter is usually M8 or M10. The female fastening element is usually a solid hexagonal metal nut with an axial bore which is provided with an internal screw thread which is adapted to the male fastening element, which nut is welded fixedly to the clip body. A nut with a stepped bore is also known as a female fastening element, part of the bore having an internal screw thread of size M8 and another part having an internal screw thread of size M10. The axial bore of the female fastening element is directed towards the centre of the pipe clip.
Over the course of recent decades, a very large number of designs of metal pipe clips of this nature have been developed, the aim in each case being to fit and fix the pipe in the pipe clip rapidly, easily and reliably. These developments related in particular to the connecting means which join the clip-body ends, which connection is brought about after the pipe has been placed in the pipe clip. Known connecting means are, for example, hooks or a tightening screw.